migrate

Witness the incredible journey of newborn polar bear cubs as they leave the safety of their den for the first time. Bravely led by their mother, the cubs must make the perilous 400-mile Arctic voyage to the sea to feed.

Get a look at some of the planet’s great gatherings: creatures coming together in inconceivable numbers — sometimes in millions, billions, even trillions. Included are bats and bees, locusts and ants, butterflies and cicadas, grunion and carp, sardines and wildebeest, and even parakeets and penguins. Some gather to breed or to migrate, some for protection, some simply to keep warm in the cold. But in the process, a kind of super-organism is created in which individual intelligence is superseded by a collective consciousness that shares information and moves with a single purpose for the benefit of all.

See how the mixing of prehistoric human genes led the way for our species to survive
and thrive around the globe. Archaeology, genetics and anthropology cast new light on
200,000 years of history, detailing how early humans became dominant.

Europe
When Homo sapiens turned up in prehistoric Europe, they ran into the Neanderthals.
The two types of human were similar enough to interbreed – and they were just as
capable of making artifacts. But as more Homo sapiens moved into Europe, there was
an explosion of art and symbolic thought. The balance of power had shifted and
Neanderthals were overwhelmed.

See how the mixing of prehistoric human genes led the way for our species to survive and thrive around the globe. Archaeology, genetics and anthropology cast new light on 200,000 years of history, detailing how early humans became dominant.

Asia
Discover the ancient humans living across Asia when Homo sapiens arrived. Our ancestors mated with them and their genes found a home within our DNA. More than that, they’ve helped us face down extinction.

Australia
When humans arrived in Australia, they were, for the first time, truly alone, surrounded by wildly different flora and fauna. How did they survive and populate a continent? There is a close cultural and genetic link between early Australians and modern-day Aborigines; here the ancient and modern stories intersect as nowhere else. The secret to this continuity is diversity. Intuitively, early Australians found the right balance between being separate and connected.

See how the mixing of prehistoric human genes led the way for our species to survive and thrive around the globe. Archaeology, genetics and anthropology cast new light on 200,000 years of history, detailing how early humans became dominant.

Americas
As early humans spread out across the world, their toughest challenge was colonizing the Americas because a huge ice sheet blocked the route. It has long been thought that the first Americans were Clovis people, who arrived 13,000 years ago. But an underwater discovery in Mexico suggests people arrived earlier — coming by boat, not on foot. How closely related were these early Americans to today’s Native Americans? It’s an emotive issue, involving one of the most controversial fossils in the world, Kennewick Man.

Africa
200,000 years ago, a new species, Homo sapiens, appeared on the African landscape. While scientists have long imagined eastern Africa as a real-life Garden of Eden, the latest research suggests humans evolved in many places across the continent at the same time. Now, the DNA of a 19th-century African-American slave reveals that during the early days of our species, our ancestors continued meeting, mating and hybridizing with other human types in Africa – creating ever greater diversity within us.